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Open for Branding Week 2: Look Before You Leap

By Continuum - August 3, 2010

in Featured Items

Continuum continues their series Open for Branding, where they are sharing, from start to finish, their latest branding project for the new, nomadic Design Museum Boston. They're asking for your input, so don't hesitate to leave your feedback in the comments below.

Now that we've kicked off the project, where do we begin? If you jump right into design, you could go anywhere—the world of possibility is too big. First, you need to take a step back and establish some parameters.

At Continuum, we develop thematic approaches to do this. By having a conversation around several approaches, we start to set boundaries to focus the creative direction. In this week's post, we're presenting three approaches that we've developed for Design Museum Boston.

Each of the theme boards dials up two of three brand pillars to show how emphasizing different aspects of their identity would translate visually. The themes are expressed using found images, typography, and key words. We also show examples of other museums and analogous brands that have similar styles. This is an integral part of the design process because it allows us to understand what's out there and where this museum fits in—ultimately helping us to craft their voice in the market.

The museum's organizational pillars are to educate, unite, and demonstrate. They aim to educate the public on the role of design, unite the public and the design community, and demonstrate examples of strong design. Our brand pillars are dynamic, smart, and bold. In choosing these pillars, we hit on words that visually express their organizational pillars.

Later this week, we'll share the thematic approaches with museum directors Derek Cascio and Sam Aquillano—engaging in a dialogue around different visual styles and learning what resonates with them. Given the museum's mission, we'd like you to weigh in on which direction you feel is the strongest and which elements you think resonate best. What else would you add?

Through the course of the meeting—coupled with your strategic feedback—we'll hone in on a cohesive approach to take the identity to the next phase of development.

Follow the jump to check out excerpts from our theme boards, and be sure to click on each image to view the full board at a larger size. Theme 1: Smart-Dynamic

Theme 2: Bold-Dynamic

Theme 3: Smart-Bold

Next week: Based on our meeting with Design Museum Boston and your feedback, we'll align on one thematic approach to start sketching concepts. We'll also ask for your help in answering strategic design problems that need to be solved.

See Open For Branding Week 1: Continuum's transparent design project for Design Museum Boston.

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Jordan

14 years ago

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I like Smart-Bold them because it makes a strong visual impact on the DMB's potential customers. Whereas the Bold-Dynamic may be too masculine to some female. As it is evident that the Smart-Bold theme is currently implemented on DMB's website, the choice of typeface is too generic. The typeface should be tweaked a bit more to make DMB stand apart from other sites and museums.
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Chris

14 years ago

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It's a transient museum; BOLD is key. It's key to grabbing instant attention and driving awareness as the museum travels about. Bold should be the primary theme, and Smart + Dynamic should be folded in to support it. 2 cents.
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Leeanne

14 years ago

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Out of the 3 options I like Dynamic/ Smart

The keywords seem to make the most sense for the nomadic, virtual space project. The other options seem too general.

I think people are over the "graphic" look on the internet. I think it looks great in print, but on a screen, I want more. I would love to see the Bold/Dynamic theme combine with the Dynamic/ Smart theme. This way, you can give us the information in a fun, graphic way, but intrigue us with the magic, surprise and introspection that I see the Dynamic/Smart board leaning towards.

For some reason it reminds me of this artist: http://www.marymattinglyglobal.org/

and Matthew Barney: http://www.cremaster.net/

If this is truly going to be a nomadic, virtual display, people need a reason to want to navigate it. Some sort of mystery and beauty.
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Josue

14 years ago

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I believe this is a great start, however, I only see two pillars: Dynamic/unite and Bold/ educate.

Brainstorming is the best part!

I think that something like this could do well at a local (school and library) level and at wider level (city). Society needs to get a better understanding of what design means and the earlier he or she understands it the better. For the people that already understand this, a weekend exhibit would be great!

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Josh Long

14 years ago

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I would like to see the theme take a tongue and cheek approach. Like "see the world through designer glasses". It would raise awareness and help everyday people think and see like true designers. I also like smart bold, but with a grounding element. Something as trivial as antique wood would make it real, tangible, and soften the transition between designer and novice "seeing". Thank you for your contribution and art...
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Dan Wallis

14 years ago

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They are speaking in verbs, you are speaking in adjectives. I think as a result this presentation feels very removed from the task at hand. The boards are too focused on finished products by other firms; not exposing the guts of what makes them effective and relevant. I would love to see you guys actually unpack the visual language behind the brand themes you extrapolated from the museum's organizational pillars. Also, I would encourage you to seek a solution that speaks to all three of of the Museum's principle goals, not just a selected two in a dominant/sub role.
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Christopher Uryga

14 years ago

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Your illustration suggests that you have aligned each of your organization pillars with one of the brand pillars. However, your themes seem to only suggest two of the three brand pillars. Be careful that you are not kicking a leg out from under your platform with an incomplete message.
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Mark

14 years ago

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Bold-dynamic

Demonstrate-unite

Priorities
1. Dynamic-unite
2. Educate

The most apparent Design is a visual process. What creates a disconnect between peoples everyday lives and design is that the thought process behind the design, beyond the visual aspects, is not apparent. Thus, people become unaware of the thoughtful intricacies of design that impact our daily lives.

I think highlighting the dynamic range and process of design, by creating inspired curiosity through clear examples of design, shows the depth of design and how it is intertwined in everyday life. In addition, I feel creating a sense of oneness with design in our lives.

The most effective education comes from a persons want-to-know: A person will actively learn when they want to know something. So by showing them the interconnectedness of design through demonstrate-unite principles will evoke a sense of interest. Once the attention of the public is grasped, their curiosity to know more will automatically create a lifelong education process and awareness of design around them and in their lives.
Therefore I believe leaving â€œeducateâ€ as a secondary goal by first creating inspiration by â€œdemonstratingâ€ and showing the â€œuniteâ€ notion is the best direction to approach the branding of Design Museum Boston.
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Caitlin

14 years ago

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I like Smart-Bold. I think it would translate nicely to information graphics, which I'm guessing would play a big role for Design Museum Boston.
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Jack

14 years ago

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Great project. Thanks for the public forum!

I like the way Bold-Dynamic uses typography as an image.
very strong!
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